125 Trendy Yarn Braids You Should Wear

It’s undeniable that when you mention micro braids and cornrows, black women naturally comes to mind. Well, it’s because these hairstyles have become part of the African-American culture. Most African-American women, if not all, have Afro-hair, which is difficult to manage and hard to style. In addition to that, Afro hair takes a long time to grow, which could be a hassle for women born with this hair type. Since this hair type doesn’t grow as fast as a straight hair does, women with this hair type tend to use hair extensions to create an illusion of having longer hair strands. Unfortunately, women with Afro hair have limited options when it comes to hairstyles. Because of that, black women often use protective hairstyles instead of hairstyles that are rather aesthetic. You can wear these hairstyles for a week or two without even restyling or retouching it. Examples of these protective hairstyles are cornrows, individual braids, yarn braids, feed-in braids, and many more.

Yarn braids are as popular as cornrows and individual braids for several reasons. The main reason why it has become too popular is that it’s a money-saving hairstyle. The yarn braid hairstyle only uses your natural hair and a bunch of acrylic yarns. These acrylic yarns are way cheaper than actual hair extensions or braiding hair. This means you will be saving a lot of money when you wear this kind of hairstyle. Another benefit of wearing this kind of hairstyle is that you don’t need to be a braiding expert to achieve this style. This hairstyle uses only the feed-in braiding technique and the normal individual braiding technique. Even if you don’t know the basic braiding technique, you will learn to create this hairstyle in a few tries. There are still a lot of other benefits that you can get from wearing this kind of braid hairstyle and you will learn about them below.

Everything You Need to Know about Yarn Braids

Top 10 Awesome Yarn Braids Hairstyles

If you think yarn braids can only be worn loosely, then you are totally wrong. There are several updos that you can create while wearing this popular braided hairstyle. Among them are the following:

Rainbow Yarn Braids

If you are a major fan of rainbow colors, but don’t have the courage to paint your head permanently with it, then this hairstyle is definitely for you. There are different ways on how you can achieve the perfect rainbow yarn braid today. One way is to use a rainbow-colored acrylic yarn, and the other is to use a seven differently colored acrylic yarns. The first method is highly preferred over the other since the second method requires expertise in creating equal legs for the braids (considering the thickness of seven differently colored yarns used as strands).

Accessorized Yarn Braids

This hairstyle is another great way to wear the popular yarn braid. If you can’t help but let your braids down for the rest of the week, then you should at least try to make it look fun or stylish. Adding the right accessories to your box braided yarn hairstyle will definitely make it look classy and chic, naturally. You can use wooden beads or thin rings to create a minimalistic yet elegant hairstyle. Since there are several hair accessories available today, you will never run out of options when you choose to wear this hairstyle.

Braided Fishtail Bob

Who says only women with natural straight hair can get a bob hairstyle today? Well, that’s totally wrong. Even women who are born with Afro hair can get an amazing bob hairstyle just like this one. In order to achieve this hairstyle, you need to be creative enough to give an illusion that you are wearing a bob hairstyle. Since Afro hair don’t grow as long as straight hair does, you can achieve the style by using acrylic yarns. For the fishtail part, you just need to cut the yarns longer than the rest so that it becomes a wonderful and seamless fishtail braid.

Yarn Braids in High Pony

Women with an active lifestyle will definitely love this hairstyle. It’s simple and easy to wear, literally. You don’t have to be an expert hairstylist to create this hairstyle. You just need to know the basic three-strand braiding technique and you’re good to go. Once you finish creating individual braids, all that’s left for you to do is to tie your braids into a high pony. This will keep your braids away from your face, which is totally beneficial for women who move around a lot.

Box Yarn Braids

This hairstyle is very easy to achieve. The only thing that will make it look harder is the perfect box base for each braid. However, even this process is easy enough for anyone to follow. You just have to divide your hair into equal sections and separate each subsections into boxes. You can tie each subsection with hair elastic to keep them from mixing with other subsections. The box yarn braids is a neat hairstyle that will protect not only your hair, but also your scalp. Although kids usually wear this hairstyle, it doesn’t mean adults can’t wear it. Feel free to relive your youth by wearing this casual hairstyle.

Half Updo Yarn Braids

There are women who are not comfortable wearing the entire hair in an updo, but still want to keep most of the hair away from the face. If you are one of those women, then this hairstyle is for you. You only need to tie up the crown section of your yarn braids and let the rest of your braids freely hang loose at the back of your head. This hairstyle will serve both functions of keeping hair off your face, with the rest of the hair framing your facial features perfectly.

Three-toned Yarn Braids

Do away with the regular two-toned yarn braids and start creating your own style. This year, a lot of women tried combining different colors to create the perfect three-toned braided yarn hairstyle. Surprisingly, there are so many great combinations that you can’t help but adore. You can mix up two different yarn colors and feed it into your natural hair. Since yarn braids are not meant to look natural, feel free to choose your own preferred yarn colors and let your creativity run wild. If you want to combine bright orange with blue yarn, then do it because you’ll never know how good it can become unless you actually try wearing it.

Half Up Minnie

A lot of people love Minnie Mouse and they just can’t help but adore her style. This hairstyle is a concrete proof that Minnie is popular not only among a bunch of grade school students, but also to teenagers and adults as well. This hairstyle doesn’t require you to keep all your braids into a bun. You only need a few braids from the crown to create the infamous Minnie ears. To imitate Minnie’s ears, you can simply create two high buns on the sides of your head, just a little above the ears. Leave the rest of your braids hanging at the back of your head so that it doesn’t become a stringent and stiff hairstyle.

Side Parted Twist

If you are not that skilled in styling your hair, then you don’t have to worry because there are several hairstyles that are too easy to achieve, just like this one. All you have to do is to part your hair in a way that one side is thicker and the other one is thinner (do this on an already braided hair). After that, gather a few braids from the thicker side and start twisting it towards the back. Don’t overdo the twisting because it will make the twists unravel prematurely later. Just create a few fat twists and secure the hair with bobby pins.

Braids within a braid

This hairstyle is unique and it will definitely make you stand out among the crowd. This hairstyle may look too complicated for others, but it’s truly not that complicated. What makes this hairstyle so intricate is the use of braided hair for a larger braid. You may choose how many large braids you need, but doing one jumbo braid will be the most efficient and time-saving choice. After braiding your hair individually, you should start dividing the braided hair into three sections. After doing that, you can start braiding the jumbo braids and create a wonderful hairstyle.

Revolve Day 1 photos by Thaddaeus McAdams

Easy Yarn Braids Tutorials

Here are some tutorials that will help you understand how yarn braids are done:

Simple Individual Yarn Braids

Wash your hair.

This step is essential for this hairstyle, especially when you are planning to wear the style for a couple of weeks without removing it. Starting with a clean hair will make the hairstyle last longer since you will not be touching it due to itchiness. Make sure to use shampoo that will make your hair healthier, not more damaged. Dry your hair after washing it and make sure to comb it well, too.

Apply a little styling cream.

Since Afro hair is difficult to manage, you will need the help of hair styling cream. This product will keep your shortest strands in place, making it possible to have a neat and decent hairstyle. Just apply the cream to the roots because this is where your shortest strands are located. Remember, too much styling cream will make your hair look sleek and greasy. Too much hair styling product would also cause difficulties when styling your hair.

Divide hair into sections.

Since you will be creating individual braids, you are free to decide how thick the sections will be. The thicker the sections, the less work you perform. It would also look good if you divide the sections neatly, as you would in doing box braids. Separate each section with hair elastic or duck bill clips.

Prepare your yarns.

During this step, you must decide how long you want your yarn braids to be. The longer you want your braids to be, the longer the yarn you should prepare. After deciding on the length of the yarn, start cutting at least five strands of the same length. Hold it firmly and proceed to the next step.

Start braiding.

This is where the most tedious parts come in. This step will consume the most time, so you have to be patient enough and endure the process. To start, gather one of the sections you prepared previously. Fold the pre-cut yarn strands into two equal lengths and place your natural hair between them. Get the centremost yarn strand and combine it with your natural braid. That leaves you with two outer strands composed of two strings of yarns each. After doing that, proceed as you normally would do in creating a regular three strand braid. Do the same with the remaining sections.

Apply hairstyling cream.

Apply hairstyling cream as final touches. Make sure no strands are out of place.

Half Updo Yarn Braids

Apply hairstyling cream on washed and dried hair.

Make sure to apply only a small amount of hairstyling products so that you won’t end up with a greasy hairstyle. When your hair is greasy, it attracts dirt that often causes dandruff build-up. If you overdo this step, you might end up scratching your head every second of the day.

Divide your hair into sections.

Divide your hair into thin sections for the individual braids. Do this as neatly as possible. If you can, it would even be wonderful to create perfect boxes as bases for your individual braids.

Start braiding your hair.

Since you will only be doing a regular braid, there is no need worry. The only problem left for you to worry about is how to feed in the acrylic yarn into your natural hair. However, that too isn’t much of a problem. You just need to loop it over your natural hair before creating the first braid. After that, you can continue braiding your hair with ease. Perform the three-strand braiding technique as you go all the way down to the tips of your hair.

Create your half updo.

Once you finish braiding all your hair, it’s time to create your half updo. To do this, you just need to gather a heap of your hair, ideally at least half of your entire hair. Start dividing your hair into two different sections. You can begin by creating a line from ear to ear. Tie that portion into a high bun and your hairstyle is finished.

Best Hair Types for Yarn Braids

Not all hair types are perfect for yarn braids. Here are some hair types that can go well with this style:

Afro Hair

This hair type is the hardest type to manage and the most difficult type to grow. Because of that, women born with this hair type are left with fewer hairstyling options. Wearing yarn braids is the perfect substitute for a naturally long straight hair. The acrylic yarn helps add length to the natural Afro hair, which means giving these women a chance to experience having long hair, even just for a while.

Straight hair

Even if women with Afro hair often use the yarn braid hairstyle, it surprisingly goes well with straight hair too. The thing about having straight hair is that it’s easily manageable. This only means that you can style it any way you want to, including the popular braided yarn hairstyle.

Hollywood Celebrities with Yarn Braids

Hollywood celebrities give women a lot of inspiration. Some women even look up to them as if they are on a high pedestal. Admittedly, Hollywood celebrities have great impact on the lives of their fans, especially in terms of fashion and perspective. In line with this, here are some Hollywood celebrities whose hairstyles are so great that you can’t help but adore it:

Katy Perry

Indeed, Katy Perry never disappoints her fans. She is a popular singer who also sets great hair trends every time she releases a new music video. One of the best hairstyles ever worn by Katy Perry is her rainbow yarn braids. This hairstyle seems to hold so much meaning to the Hollywood star that she chose to wear it for more than a week. This Hollywood star seems to be enjoying her hairstyle so well that she even posted it on her Social Media account, which sparked the interest of her fans as usual.

Zoe Kravitz

Zoe Kravitz is a well-loved American singer, actress and model. As a model, she knows how to carry herself without getting intimidated by anyone. Aside from having a strong personality, the fans loves her because of her great fashion sense, especially the hairstyles. Zoe once wore her yarn braids high and proud during the Hollywood Awards 2015.